Gabe

Guess what the cat dragged in to the house yesterday? No, we don't have a cat. But now we have a dog.

After years of begging, we thought the boys and girl are now ready for a dog. They might be ready, but I don't think Sandy is! Poor mom is constantly worried about what the dog might do - does he need to go outside?! Is he going to make a mess?! What's he doing?!

We don't officially own him but are fostering him for now. If all goes well, we might decide to keep him or he might get adopted by someone else. Who knows? But for the first 28 hours together, he's the perfect dog for us.

He doesn't bark. He has small bursts of energy and then is very mellow. He doesn't shed much at all. He barely eats. And he takes care of his business outside. The boys and girl can't get enough of him! They want to play with him, walk him, feed him and just generally be with him all day long. When we left the house for just a little bit, Matt said, "I MISS Gabe!"

School's in session

The 2013-2014 school year has begun in the Lee household. My diligent wife has started up yesterday, and the boys and girl are locked in!

Andrew is starting 6th grade and the academic rigor is going to increase greatly this year. We've got to get him ready for HS, and the Ivy League! Ha! Spoken like a true Korean American.

Our subjects are partly computer based, partly audio and even some video which include Bible, Math, English, Art, Anatomy, World History and Korean. Matt's in 3rd grade and his favorite subject is Korean. I asked him how Sandy is doing as his teacher. His reply? "She's strict!"

Emery is in 2nd grade and loves Korean too. Andrew loves history still. I am really glad that we are homeschooling this year. Sandy is doing and will do a fabulous job teaching them. The boys and girl grow closer together being in school together. As I write, they have been singing and playing air instruments to praise music and Christmas carols for the last 2 hours! And I want to cherish all the time we have together while they are young. Everyone tells me that this time flies by, and I want to enjoy it as a family as much as possible before it's gone.

Happy birthday Emery!

I am super late on posting this. Emery's birthday was July 11. Again, I forgot to go to 7-11 on her birthday. But at least we celebrated her birthday on time.

This was the first time that we celebrated her birthday with her grandparents and her cousins since she was 1! So it was a very fun and special birthday for her.

We decided to go for it and celebrate in the pool.

Even Auntie Mary joined in the fun - fully clothed!

There was lots of wrestling, you know, regular girl stuff.

Well, there was tons of Princess Sofia gifts. We're doing our best to keep you employed Carole!

And all her favorite food - CA rolls and white kimchee! It doesn't get any better than this, this side of heaven for a 7 year-old girl. Happy birthday to my beautiful Emery!

Summer basketball

The boys both played summer basketball for the first time ever. We finished up the season in style. Andrew had an excellent season and was looking like a real basketball player! I think he's ready for competitive play. In the last game, he was finally matched up with someone his height and who was fairly athletic. Yet he managed to score 12 points with plenty of good defense and other solid play too. His team went 6-0 on the season. I think this season did a lot for his confidence. This was probably the first time that he was one of the best players in the league.

In Matt's first season, he started to get the hang of things by the end. He was less intimidated and more comfortable. He managed to score 4 points today, but I missed filming both shots! I recorded every other shot he attempted. Oh well.

Imagine this shot going in, that's what it looked like when he scored.

Or this shot.

Or this one. Do you get the idea?

Just in case you don't think Matt can score, here he is making a lay-up before the game. He really can score points.

But this is Matt's calling card - tenacious D. Here he is shutting down the other team's best player. Well, at least he forced him into a double dribble turnover by sheer force of will. Don't you love his focused look? :)

The new 'do

Wow. Has it been 3 weeks since I last blogged? I have had trouble finding the motivation. Sorry parents and Sandy's parents. Emery just got a new haircut today.

She's been begging for a haircut for a while now. She's been starting up a lot of different things lately that I need to record on the blog. Here's just one for now - sewing.

After Sandy's mom taught her to sew on our last trip to CA, she's been busy with needle and thread.

Ta-dah! She made herself a purse.

Psalm 1 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

After all our travels and all our transitions this year, we have finally started to get back into our family disciplines with the memory verses. I must admit that I have not done a good job in having the boys and girl be disciplined with their verses so far in 2013. This is Matt and Emery's first Bible passage of the year! Sad spiritual leader I am.

Psalm 1 is so rich and practical, isn't it?

Andrew is 11 and puberty is just around the corner. I think it may actually be starting to get here to tell you the truth. Andrew and I are going on our father son Passport 2 Purity this weekend. It's time to make that manly commitment to purity!

Estes Park

The last stop on our family trip in June was Estes Park, CO, right next to Rocky Mountain National Park. We stayed at the YMCA. I must say, it was FABULOUS!

Beautiful forests, gorgeous snow capped mountains, green grass and a rushing river all cried out, testifying to the grandeur of God. It dpesn't hurt that we're starved for all of these things here in NM.

We did some literal rock climbing.

Some hiking.

Some more hiking.

And even more hiking. Although I loved it, the boys and girl were a bit tired out at the end.

Andrew practiced getting as close to the river as possible without falling in. Actually, he did fall in. Never mind.

Emz had to keep looking cute for mom's 1000 pictures by the river photo shoot. Fortunately, looking cute comes pretty naturally for her.

And to top things off, we ended every night with a fire and roasted marshmallows back at the cabin. Can't go wrong with that!